Exploring Two Learning Models: Understanding By Design & Backward Design 

Meta Description: Understanding by Design and Backward Design are two famous earning models. But are they easy to implement? Let's find out!

When designing a curriculum, you may have come across two models: Understanding By Design (UbD) and Backward Design. Both these models prove helpful for designing and planning curriculum while putting learning goals in focus. 

Whether it's the UbD or Backward Design model, there is one principle in place, ‘ education must focus on desired results and work backward to design meaningful experiences for learning.’

Let's explore this article to gain comprehensive knowledge of both these models, their benefits, and their downsides. 

What Is Understanding by Design (UbD)?

Source: Askifas

‍

This conceptual framework was developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe to design a curriculum that prioritizes the understanding and transfer of knowledge more than just content coverage. 

The main aim of the model is to give emphasis to understanding rather than just teaching for the sake of memorization. UbD allows learners to actively engage with the content and learn while making sense of the material available. 

Here are some key features of UbD: 

• Complete Focus on Understanding: UbD is against learners acquiring or cramming information. It focuses on learners literally learning concepts deeply and then applying them later in life. 
• Transfer of Complete Knowledge: UbD aims to transfer knowledge into the real world. The model equips every learner with certain skills that they can use in real-life situations. 
• Learning Evidence With Assessments: The model favors assessments and tasks that pay attention to application and evaluation. 

UbD achieves all of the above features in three stages. 

Identification of Desired Results

At this stage, all educators determine things that learners must know and should be able to apply at the end of the course. Educators make sure that all concepts and questions are clarified at this stage. 

Determination of Learning Evidence

After determining the learning goals, educators create assessments to serve as evidence of learning. Assessments like project tasks, performance evaluations, and more are quite important for testing your critical thinking. 

Platforms like Coursebox prove helpful in creating these assessments to test the understanding of learners smartly. You can also use the platform to create quizzes for an engaging learning approach. 

Source: Coursebox

Planning of Learning Experiences

At the last stage of the model, the focus is on designing learning activities that resonate with the desired assessments and outcomes. This stage is imperative to ensure that all teaching methods support the learning goals actively. 

What Is Backward Design? 

Source: UIC

‍

The UbD framework is incomplete with the concept of Backward Design. Backward Design challenges the traditional curriculum design and begins with keeping the end in mind. 

In easy words, it prioritizes the goals and then creates assessments before finally curating the instructional strategies. 

Here are some important principles of this concept: 

• Planning is Outcome Oriented: By starting with identifying desired learning outcomes, Backward Design ensures that every instructional activity serves a clear purpose for the learner. 
• Alignment of Learning Objectives With Assessments and Activities: By aligning learning objectives with assessments and instructional activities, the model aims to create a cohesive learning experience. 
• Student-focused Approach: The primary objective of the approach is to focus on what students plan to achieve. This is why the model focuses on the needs of the students to drive the curriculum. 

Just like UbD, the Backward Design model also has three stages. 

Identifying Desired Results 

This stage involves articulating learning objectives. These objectives usually include skills, knowledge, and understandings that all learners must acquire at the end of a course. 

Determining Learning Evidences

This stage revolves around educators creating assessments to test the knowledge of students and determine whether they have learned the objectives or not. 

Curate Learning Experiences

This is the final stage, which involves creating courses and materials through platforms like Coursebox. It is important to achieve the outcomes identified in the first stage and excel at assessments. 

Understanding by Design vs Backward Design: Are They Same or Different? 

Many learners and educators use both these terms interchangeably. However, they have some distinctive features that we cannot deny. 

Understanding by Design is a much bigger concept than Backward Design. In fact, the latter is a pivotal part of the former. 

They are similar in many areas, for instance: 

• They both focus on identifying the end goals before preparing the curriculum. 
• They prioritize deeper, meaningful learning instead of mere cramming. 
• These models work towards aligning assessments, courses, objectives, and strategies to create a cohesive learning experience. 

However, UbD emphasizes the transfer of knowledge into the real world more. It also provides a strong and detailed teaching philosophy of understanding. These elements are usually missing from Backward Design, making the latter different from the former. 

Benefits of Following These Models in Your Learning Experiences 

Why do you think that educators use Understanding By Design and Backward Design as their ultimate learning models? 

Well, here are some reasons. 

Both Provide Clarity of Purpose

By focusing on the outcome before anything else, these models empower educators in designing curriculums that have purposes and are targeted to the right audience. 

They Enhance the Learning of Students

Imagine cramming content without understanding what it really is. Isn’t that a waste of knowledge? 

To overcome this problem, these learning models emphasize a deeper understanding of concepts. As a result, learners retain the knowledge for a long time. 

Strong Alignment Achieves Success 

Instead of separating objectives from assessments or instructions, these models align them all to achieve quick success for learners. Plus, this also helps establish cohesive learning among learners, keeping them engaged and interested in the curriculum. 

Flexible and Adaptable Models

The framework designed by these models is usually adaptable for students in various grade levels. It is also flexible, meaning you can change it as desired. 

They Promote Critical Thinking 

The use of questions and performance-based assessments helps promote critical thinking among learners. As a result, they think out of the box and establish a better understanding of the concepts. 

While these models have many advantages, their application in the real world also comes with its fair share of challenges. Take a look at what these are. 

Prominent Challenges of Backward Design and UbD

Educators have been encouraged to follow these frameworks to design their curriculum. However, this idea hasn't always been fruitful. Here is why. 

The Models Require Time to Implement 

These frameworks are time-intensive. This means designing a curriculum based on them can require lots of time and effort. This is particularly true during the planning stage. 

Not all educators may have the patience to curate curriculums that may take days to design. Plus, many courses have strict deadlines, so following a time-intensive framework may not be a good idea.

This is why they prefer choosing other models instead of UbD and Backward Design. 

Educators May Require Additional Training to Implement These Frameworks 

Not everyone has the knowledge or understanding of these frameworks. Besides, these models are complicated, so additional training may be required for educators to truly understand them before using them for their curriculum. 

Rigid Curriculum Standards Can be a Huge Hurdle 

Since these models encourage creativity, they may not be able to fully align with the requirements of the rigid standards of curriculum found in our education system. 

Besides, many traditional educators hate experimenting and moving backward in their learning approach may require them to put in a lot of effort. Continuous awareness among educational institutions is required to overcome this problem. 

The Creation of Authentic Assessments May be an Issue 

Designing an assessment that truly measures the performance of a learner can be very challenging. Unfortunately, not everyone has the tools or experience to curate such tasks that can help know what the learners have learned at the end of the day. 

Application of These Models in Real Life

Despite their downsides and challenges, both UbD and Backward Design are prominent models used in many real-time scenarios. 

For instance, they are widely used in the K-12 education system to help educators create meaningful curriculum for learners. 

In addition, they are also used in universities. They help design courses to elevate the critical thinking of students. Plus, they help empower students through knowledge application. 

Many administrators and educators use these frameworks in training workshops and sessions for the professional development of learners. These models prove helpful in improving instructional practices and aligning the curriculum across various grade levels. 

The flexibility of these frameworks also makes them quite helpful in designing curriculum for special education. These models are popularly used to curate courses for students, making them learn concepts regardless of their disabilities. 

Wrapping Up

If you want to fully learn about a concept, it is best to evaluate the objectives of the learners first before curating assessments and instructional strategies. This is what UbD and Backward Design models aim to achieve. They emphasize curriculum planning, clarity, and purposeful learning so every learner can have a full understanding of the content in question. 

Thankfully, platforms like Coursebox help educators globally create courses and assessments that easily align with these models. With the help of Coursebox’s AI-powered features, you can curate learning materials for your audience to keep them engaged and interested in your content.